Mark Turner on "Lady Bird"

In this post I sit down with professional jazz musician/aspiring film critic Mark Turner to get his thoughts on the Greta Gerwig written and directed teen-coming of age dramedy, Lady Bird…

[pause for laughter]

Anyway, Mark Turner is (and has been) a seminal voice on the modern jazz landscape for over twenty years, and for good reason: he’s really good at what he does. His studied approach to harmony and voice leading, coupled with a nuanced tone and advanced rhythmic concept, make him a unique figure in an ever-crowding field of modern jazz tenor players. And all this has lead to me (and thousands of others) having somewhat of an obsession with him -  which I hope to one day turn into more transcriptions and dedicated study to his approach, but only time will tell. In the meantime, though, this relatively short and straight forward solo on Tadd Dameron’s jazz standard “Lady Bird” is at least a start, and really reflects a lot of characteristics of what make Turner such a distinct voice.

This track can be found on SteepleChase’s Jam Session vol. 9, released in 2004, though recorded in 1998, which gives us a glimpse into Turner’s process as he develops his mature style. Please enjoy the transcription and let me know if you have any thoughts!

The recording; Turner's solo starts at 0:45:

The transcription:

If you’re interested in some other great resources dedicated to Turner, I highly recommend checking out the most recent issue of Music & Literature – it contains great interviews with Turner and his peers that help provide a little insight to his brilliance. Here is a link to how to get your very own copy!